My Own Practice

Yoga classes tend to be an hour and a half these days. Some are shorter, some are even longer, but usually they're about an hour and a half. I like doing what I do in my class on my own, but it doesn't take me as long because I'm not describing any of it, so I just do it. I find I can do most of what I usually lead in my intermediate class in about an hour. I also like to add meditation to the end of it because that feels right, especially if I haven't already done a meditation and if I don't have anything else I have to do right afterwards.

Traditionally people will do their practice first thing in the morning, before the sun rises and it gets hot. That's not my circumstance here in Ottawa and I have a kid at home getting ready for school, so I always wait until she's out of the house and then I can do my practice. Midday or late morning feels good if my schedule allows. I don't have the stiffness from the morning, nor the hunger, and if I time it just right I can eat breakfast and practice before a sort of later lunch. Some days I just meditate and don't do asana practice. Other days I go to a class someone else is leading.

As I get older, I notice more of a difference if there's a gap in my practice. I get stiff sooner or my concentration goes away faster. So I'm motivated to keep it up because restarting can feel disorienting and sometimes deflating. But sometimes my life doesn't allow me to keep my routine or the order as I like it. And I'm not a victim, I could fight for my routine, but sometimes it's important to let something else in, like more work, or other people! Finding the balance is one of my hobbies. It goes off balance and I try and regain it. I figure I'll always be able to find it even though sometimes I worry that I won't.

I missed blogging here

Since I moved my blog, I haven't been blogging. That's funny. I integrated my blog with my main web site and then I got shy. I didn't want my "customers" having to read my daily surprises I guess. Or I thought my daily a-has or updates on my love life would be not professional, which they're not, so back to my personal space for moment.

It's Sunday morning - time for me to get ready to teach yoga. The house is quiet, it's still outside too, and it's a special time for me as I get ready to be one of the few cars on the road heading to a place where the people who show up are really special too. To get up and be at a yoga class on Sunday morning really takes something. And to do it regularly instead of laying around or having a coffee in bed, doing a crossword or whatever people do when they lay around in bed, I think says a lot about those people.

I recently got a new boyfriend, which feels amazing, and the urge to lay around in bed on Sunday morning instead of getting up to teach yoga is so strong that I made sure I was alone last night. I hate having to fight with myself to get up. I prefer to bounce out of bed and get on with my day. Feeling torn may have some romantic ring to it, but it feels crappy to me, so I just nipped it in the bud and said, "No. I want to be alone Sunday morning."

I never meant to teach yoga every Sunday morning for 10 years. I meant to do it temporarily until I had my personal life settle and then I'd go back to having weekends. It's been at least a decade since I had weekends in my life. Now I feel that pull to have a weekend again and maybe if things work out, I'll have my dream of being able to quit teaching yoga Sunday morning so I can remember what people do that's lazy and makes it Sunday morning. But these are early days and I'm up and out of here to teach my class...